Please Sit to Avoid Decapitation!

Yesterday it was about 90 degrees in Berlin. But undaunted, we decided to orient ourselves with a 3 hour slow boat cruise on the river and canals of the city. Which meant hours of sitting on the top deck of the boat in the sun, right in the middle of the day. Also, it was in German. But the kind narrator gave us a little booklet to use to follow along, and with our map, we did quite fine. The narrator made a special effort, in fact, to switch to English at times to call out a few things that were most important. For example, the boat kept passing under very low bridges and walkways across the river. Each time, there was a loud beep, and we could all see it was going to be close. But the guide would say "Achtung! Please stay seated to avoid decapitation!", or some version of that. And we noticed that sometimes, he didn't say anything in German, just English. We decided not to take that the wrong way.



We rolled (floated? boated? hmm) slowly by all the main sites of the city. And as it got hotter and our skin felt crispier, we actually pulled out the umbrella B had sent with us. I can say truthfully that yesterday was the first time I have ever used an umbrella for this purpose, and that we were so glad we did.

The German chancellor's offices, etc.

Other side view - there's a catwalk for Ms. Merkel to walk from her helipad landing to the offices across the river

The Reichstag

One of the countless cafes along the river - some even had sand and tiki huts and "beach" volleyball.

The famous television tower - highest structure in Berlin

We saw some pretty interesting grafitti throughout the day

One back on shore, we had a quick and cheap lunch at the first cafe we saw,

and forged onwards to the U-Bahn. Our goal was to catch the train to an art museum where I'd read that, among many other great works, there were a few paintings by Jan Vermeer. I really wanted to see them.

Along the way, a few more Berlin street sights:

This one I noticed for it's unlikely use of Comic Sans, especially if you look at the list of reasons one might need to get physical therapy

We got to the station just fine, and just as a train was pulling up. We weren't sure if it was going the direction we needed, and I quickly consulted my map, then yelled "This is it, let's go!" I hopped on as the doors were closing, Erin I. was just behind me, she got her foot and one hand in...and then they closed. Right on her, like an elevator but a little, um , scarier. I wish I had a picture of her face right then, but it would have been cruel to try to take one, of course. Luckily, a lady sitting right by the doors used the inner handle to open them and Erin made it. But just in case, we now have an emergency plan if something like that ever happens again. And we had a good laugh.

We finally made it to the museum, got the excellent free audio guide, and enjoyed both the art and the air conditioning. I saw my Vermeers - stood in front of them for a long time, in fact.


About 15 minutes before closing, a loud jangly chorus from Beethoven's 9th symphony came over the intercom and a voice said it was time to head to the exit. I was excited to go to the gift shop and buy postcards of the Vermeers and my other favorites...but when we got there, even though it was 5:46, no luck. People were still shopping inside, but no new customers could go in. So sad.

So, in summary, today we learned:
-umbrellas in the sun = not such a bad idea
-make sure we BOTH get on the subway at the same time
-"closing time" means at least 15 minutes before the posted hours

We slumped to a cafe right outside the museum for something to drink, our German not really sufficient for more than the most basic ordering needs. It was still hot, our feet were tired, but our thirst was quenched. The guy at the cafe was kind of funny and very cheerful, and as we left he geared up his English and said with great enthusiasm, "Thank you very nice!" Then he laughed and said he meant "much" and we all laughed together.

Today it's not supposed to be as hot, but we're headed about 30 minutes outside the city to B's parents lake house for an authentic German barbecue and lake-side fun. Very exciting!